Turkey asks US envoy to oppose arrest warrants

The ANCA's Hamparian was videotaping live at the scene of the May 16th attack, which took place in front of the Turkish Ambassador's residence where President Erdogan was scheduled to have a closed-door meeting with representatives of The Atlantic Council, a leading think tank in Washington, DC which receives funding from Turkey.

WASHINGTON (A.W.)- United States Marshals have arrested two Turkish men living in the US, for their role in beating peaceful protesters outside of the Turkish Ambassador's residence in Washington, D.C. on May 16, according to a report by The Daily Caller.

"We will fight politically and judicially" against the warrants, Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara, accusing Washington DC police of allowing "terrorists" to demonstrate against him when he visited the White House last month.

Ankara told the USA ambassador that the decision to issue the warrants was "wrong" and "unacceptable", Anadolu Agency reported.

The Turkish government came out strongly against the charges and said the brawl happened because of "the failure of local security authorities to take necessary measures". The U.S. ambassador in Ankara was summoned to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs over what it called "aggressive and unprofessional actions" by U.S. law enforcement personnel against Turkish bodyguards in Washington.

A still shot of footage of the violence that erupted outside the Turkish embassy last month.

"It has been emphasized that the decision, which clearly was not taken as a result of an impartial and independent investigation, is unacceptable", the ministry said.

A Washington police spokesman described the assault as a "brutal attack on a peaceful protest" that left 11 people were hurt, nine of them badly enough to receive hospital treatment. Sinan Narin, 45, of Virginia pleaded not guilty in a D.C. court Thursday afternoon, and Eyup Yildirim, 50, of New Jersey, is in custody in his home state and awaiting extradition to D.C. "Any further steps will be responsive and proportional to the charges", a State Department official said.

In a news conference Thursday, District of Columbia Police Chief Peter Newsham urged those being sought and some still unidentified to surrender and face American justice, adding two Americans were arrested a day earlier in the case.

At the time, two men were arrested and charged with simple assault. It's about our USA government standing up against foreign attempts to silence dissent by American citizens.

"We all saw the violence that was perpetrated against the protesters", Newsham said. Video recordings show that he may even have ordered his bodyguards and supporters like Yildirim to launch the assault on the protesters.

Turkey's official Anadolu news agency said they chanted anti-Erdogan slogans, and that the Turkish president's team moved in to disperse them because "police did not heed to Turkish demands to intervene".